Last Piccadilly restaurant closing

The last remaining Piccadilly Fish 'N Chips, which has served up battered fish and French fries for the past 39 years, is closing April 9.

The store, now at 1446 S. State, had been located for decades on 2100 South in Sugar House and was once part of a 10-restaurant chain.

"The economy happened," said owner Allan Jones, who began working at the store 25 years ago. "The first year, we did really well here; but boy, over the last year in-a-half, food costs have increased so much, 25 percent across the board. The utilities were expensive, and the taxes were so much. We were not able to make it here."

Jones sold the building to owners of a Vietnamese restaurant in West Valley City, but arranged to remain open through Easter because fish is popular during Lent, as many Christians do not eat meat of warm-blooded animals on Fridays and Ash Wednesday.

Gary Smith, who went on to become a founder of HealthRider, opened 10 Piccadilly restaurants in 1969, from Logan to Provo.

About five years later, he sold them individually and the restaurants had different prices and quality, Jones said. Throughout the 1980s, most of the restaurants closed.

Jones bought the Sugar House restaurant in 1989. The Sugar House store closed in 2004 as part of redevelopment in the area. It reopened five months later on State Street in a former Greek Souvlaki restaurant.

"My employees right now are just part time," Jones said. "We gave them two months' notice."